Who Are The Buyers Right Now?

Warren Buffet said he would like to buy thousands of single family homes.  Why?  Simply put they are a great investment deal right now.  Did he do it?  I don't know but I am sure Berkshire Hathaway didn't just jump into the real estate brokerage business this year for no reason.

In June the Berkshire name replaced Prudential in Florida and recently did so in Newport Beach, CA.

So Who Are The Buyers?

On the buyer side, investors appear to be the main buyers right now.  They are buying the houses that need work, but the prices are rising due to the competition among investors.  For instance, a recent waterfront in my area sold for $1.835 Million and was torn down, several over the sumer sold at or very close to that price only to be knocked down.  

A very nice home just around the corner, is listed at $2.4 Million and can't get even a low ball offer.  It has been on the market for over two years.  Another is listed for nearly $3 Million and as far as I know, also has no offers.

Can you really build a home and make money in that gap?  The answer is yes.  A really good investor can build for $400,000 making a total investment of $2.235, and sell for $2.3 and net $50,000 or so after interest and fees but that isn't what they are doing.  Most of them are only putting 10% of their money into the project so making $50,000 on $200,000 or even $400,000 in one year wouldn't be bad, and again that isn't what most that I talk to are doing.

What they are doing is building very slowly, taking advantage of lower labor and materials costs, locking in a good loan rate and sitting on the homes waiting for prices to go up.  Some have a sign on them, others don't.  One trick to look for as a seller is them dragging out the escrow for as long as possible to minimize their holding costs.

Maybe I am seeing more of this as an investor because I have trained myself to spot an empty house three blocks away.  I used to look for the dumpy empty homes, but now I am watching the newly remodeled empty homes.  This is how you get a micro glut.  When prices to recover to 2006 levels many of these homes will hit the market and stall pricing.  That isn't a bad thing, just something to be careful of when buying, and something you can use to your advantage if you don't want a fixer.

Are you ready to buy? 

This Weekend In PCH Real Estate

This week in Real Estate along PCH in SoCal offered some interesting new listings and a change that I will be following closely.  The biggest change for me of course was bringing my marketing and business skills on board with my wife at Keller-Williams.  I have officially made the move from investor to agent/investor.


Back the the weekend notes, I found some interesting things, starting at the north end of OC.  The Seal Beach super home offered for $12 Million appears to have been taken off the market already.  After personally seeing the house,  I wish I still had the sheiks financial advisors number.  The house was fit for a king.  In fact I am still digging hoping to find that business card just in case. 


At the same time at the south end of my area in Corona Del Mar, not one but two Cameo Shores tear downs hit the market empty and running.  This is something I haven't seen in the nearly three years I have been monitoring the Cameo Shores and Cameo Highlands areas.  Just 18 months ago I was trying to put together an offer just under $2.0MM for a home that didn't even have a view just to get into that area.  The home sold before i could get a lender to commit.

The big news starts with an ocean front home sitting on a stunning lot that is going to auction.  It was originally listed at $14MM and had no takers for over 6 months.  The tax value is very low indication an original owner, so I am guessing the family for whatever reason just wants to sell it and get the money.  


The Auction information lists a starting price of $5.5MM making the property a smoking bargain.  The agent dropped the price to $9.9MM before the seller agreed to auction off the house.  If you are interested in more information call me, and I'll get you the details on bidding.  There are some great architects and builders in the area that could turn this property into a once in a lifetime buy.  

I think the lot at $5.5MM is a deal beacuse you could knock down the house or live in it.  There aren't many lots for sale at a price like this that include a livable house.  Just up the street off the water is a another original house with some great ocean views for $2.5MM.  

Having two homes in Cameo Shores at lot pricing isn't something that happens every day and both of them will likely sell this week unless the ocean front home has a high reserve at auction.  For those of you that don't know Cameo Shores, it boasts one of California's few private beaches.  There are three access points for the homes that are off water.  Several waterfront homes have a private path to the water.  

Both of the properties have a great opportunity to build some stunning subterranean space and create a very unique finished property.  For the short term the property might not be a huge profit move for an investor, but givin the current market changes, I'd bet my commission that by the time the new houses are finished they will be money makers.

Some time ago I said the sub $1MM bottom had hit Orange County, and the numbers are backing that.  Above $1MM there is still a lot of concern and homes are all over the board.  

In between Seal Beach and CDM there are a couple of nice new waterfront listings in the Huntington Harbor.  More than once I have heard the Huntington Harbor called the "half price Newport Harbor".  This might be true, a nice waterfront home with Viking Appliances and a 50 foot boat dock came on the market this week for $1.975MM.  Less than the price of the knockdown with a view in Newport. 

For buyers in the $1MM-$5MM market there are some deals to be had, digging for deals below $1MM is getting tougher every day.  Word on the street is the auctions have dried up at the courthouse and the banks are holding out.

If you are thinking of buying or selling along the coast in OC give me a call.  If you see something else happening, let me know your thoughts.